Category: passenger pigeon

The pigeon was known as Martha, and the species was the Passenger Pigeon. Amongst all extinctions, this example remains unusual in two respects: the precision with which the timing is known and the overwhelming abundance of the species just a few decades earlier – for, just a few decades before Martha died, the Passenger Pigeon…

Dear Mark Apologies for the sudden email from a random stranger. However, unknown for me, I felt compelled to contact to congratulate and thank you your excellent book on the extinction the Passenger Pigeon which I’ve just finished. As a lover of the natural world ( and fascinated by extinct birds) I wouldn’t say it…

1 September 1914 saw the death of a female Passenger Pigeon in Cincinnati Zoo. That bird was called Martha and was the last Passenger Pigeon to draw breath – the last individual of what had not long before been the most numerous bird species on this planet. This is my book on the subject (still…

Having been in the USA for a significant chunk of time recently, I noticed this press release.  It refers to the extinct Carolina Parakeet – a species which was probably last seeen in the wild in 1904, but whose last individual survivor died in Cincinnati Zoo (in the same cage that housed the last Passenger…

I spent a few days in Liverpool last week where I added Oystercatcher to my Aintree bird list and several hundred pounds to my bank balance.  I spent some great time with some close friends and it was kind of them to set it up as a birthday treat for me. But I also took…